Isabelle Bogelot

Isabelle Bogelot (11 May 1838 - 14 June 1923) was a French philanthropist and feminist.

Biography Born Isabelle Amélie Cottiaux in Paris, Bogelot was the daughter of Antoine André Cottiaux, a cotton trader, and Marie Anne Thérèse Cottiaux, from Cambrai. Orphaned at a young age (her father died when she was 2 and her mother when she was 4), she was adopted by the family of the sisters, Maria Deraismes and Anna Féresse-Deraismes.

On May 7, 1864, she married Gustave Bogelot, a lawyer for the Court of Appeal of Paris. The couple had at least two children. This was the beginning of a long collaboration, similar to that of the couple Jules and Julie Siegfried. Her husband, who wrote several works on the question of prisons, was very involved in philanthropic activity: he was the secretary of the Société générale des prisons, vice-president of the Commission of the Hospice of Boulogne-sur-Seine for over 20 years, member of the board of directors of the Œuvre des libérées de Saint-Lazare from 1890, and spokesperson for that organisation at various congresses. When he died in 1902, Isabelle Bogelot stated that they did “nothing without considering it together”.

Philanthropy Although she was first made aware of feminist issues in Maria Deraismes's family, and later of social issues by her husband, Isabelle Bogelot considered that she only had a “philanthropic revelation” in 1876, when her husband brought her a bulletin of the Œuvre des libérées de Saint-Lazare. She then realized that it was her duty – in her own words – to devote herself to these issues. Two days later, she attended one of the charity's meetings and met Émilie de Morsier and Sarah Monod.

The Œuvre des libérées de Saint-Lazare, or Society for Women Freed from Saint-Lazare, created in 1870 by Pauline Grandpré, aimed to help women and children freed from prisons, in order to protect them from recidivism: “helping women in the present, thinking about their future by educating them, providing them a livelihood and increasing their dignity through work”.

Two years later, she became the deputy to Caroline de Barrau, followed by director general of the Œuvre in 1887. From 1883 onwards, temporary shelters were created to house women and their children upon leaving prison. The charity was recognized as a public interest organization on 26 January 1885.

The Franco-Prussian War led her to become interested in the efforts to help the military wounded. In 1886, she obtained the second prize for her nursing diploma, and a paramedic diploma the following year (both programmes created by the Women's Union of France).

She also founded, with Maria Martin and Émilie de Morsier, the Women's League for Peace and Union Among Peoples. She died in Boulogne-sur-Seine.

Feminism Bogelot's role in the Œuvre des libérées de Saint-Lazare propelled her to the international scene, where she represented the organisation at various events: won one of the council's first fights: Isabelle Bogelot became the first woman appointed to the National Supreme Council for Assistance and Public Health.

Distinctions On January 1, 1889, she received the Ordre des Palmes académiques for the creation of temporary shelters. On May 2, 1894, she became a chevalier of the Legion of Honour.